Rafale on the aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle off Toulon January 16, 2015 (AFP / File / Anne-Christine Poujoulat)
France will formalize Monday the first export sales of its iconic fighter, the Rafale in favor of Egypt, good news on the economic front, however, makes some teeth gnashing among defenders of human rights.
The Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian traveled to Cairo for the signing ceremony with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sissi.
The contract, worth 5.2 billion euros, is for the sale of 24 Rafale aircraft to Egypt, manufactured by Dassault Aviation, FREMM frigate a naval group DCNS, and missiles manufactured by MBDA.
The deal was sealed in less than three months after the Egyptian president has expressed its intention to buy French military equipment.
“In Egypt, it happened very quickly,” said the president Francois Hollande. “First, because Egypt wanted an airplane high quality” and “quickly given the threats that exist around the country.”
There is growing concern indeed in Western capitals and some countries of the region towards the rise of the Islamic State Group (EI) in Syria and Iraq, and the risk of regional destabilization that this generates.
Faced on its eastern flank attacks of jihadists related to EI and on its western flank to the explosive situation in Libya, Cairo estimated to need a proven fighter aircraft to strengthen its response capabilities.
“In the current context, it is very important that Egypt can work for stability and be safe, “explained François Hollande in Brussels on Thursday.
Rafale flies over Dubai November 18, 2013 (AFP / File / Karim Sahib)
“Security was also necessary in light of the common border (Egypt) with Libya and the fight against terrorism, and in light of what is also happening in Sinai, “he added.
This sale, which is crucial for several reasons Dassault and French State, is nevertheless criticized to the balance sheet in terms of human rights of the Egyptian regime.
Just before it was closed, Amnesty International called Paris France to “suspend all arms transfers “to Egypt because of the” repression, unprecedented in 30 years “in the country.
Emmanuelle Cosse, national secretary of the Green Party EELV, was in turn surprised the “priority” given by Egypt to purchase these planes saw “the economic and social problems in which it is an Egypt that, she recalled, there is a week has not hesitated to fire on demonstrators. “
Asked about the subject, Jean-Yves Le Drian said:” To my knowledge, President Sissi was elected by the people and, moreover, there will soon be elections in the country. That’s all I have to say “
-. Effect ‘snowball’ –
France pledged last September in the fight against EI in Iraq including the Rafale. It is also present since 2013 against Islamist movements in Mali.
On the economic front, the contract is a bargain for Paris and the aircraft manufacturer, which had failed Till there to sell the Rafale export.
Features, construction sites and chronology sold Burst to first export to Egypt (AFP / P.Deré / V.Lefai)
For Dassault, that first sale was eagerly awaited to ensure the pace of production line of the machine.
For the French government, too, while the defense budget, which includes a long list of equipment to be acquired for the benefit of hosts, is tense and relies on the sale of the unit to export.
Economy and Geopolitics therefore convinced Paris to consent “a number of efforts” on funding, said Mr. Holland.
It also allows to expect more, said the CEO of Dassault Aviation, Eric Trappier. “This sale to a large Arab country is going to snowball,” he has said. Among them, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates and Malaysia in the longer term.
Eric Trappier also optimistic about the sale of 126 Rafale with India, with which Dassault is exclusive negotiations since 2012, but whose complexity retards conclusion.
The unit “has been engaged in many theaters and observers are all countries of the region in particular have saw its operating efficiency in the hands of the French Air Force, “said he argued.
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